Cardiff Blues v Scarlets, Friday October 22

[Draggs]

Cardiff Blues v Scarlets
Friday, October 22; Kickoff 2005 local

 

[dullonien]

Teams:

Blues: Chris Czekaj; Leigh Halfpenny, Casey Laulala, Dafydd Hewitt, Tom James; Ceri Sweeny, Richie Rees; Gethin Jenkins, Rhys Thomas, Scott Andrews, Bradley Davies, Michael Paterson, Andries Pretorius, Sam Warburton, Xavier Rush (capt).
Replacements: Rhys Williams, John Yapp, Taufa'ao Fillise, Paul ***o, Maama Molitika, Lloyd Williams, Tom Shanklin, Richard Mustoe.

Scarlets: Daniel Evans; Morgan Stoddart, Jonathan Davies, Gareth Maule, Sean Lamont (capt); Rhys Priestland, Tavis Knoyle; Iestyn Thomas, Ken Owens, Deacon Manu, Lou Reed, Damian Welch, Josh Turnbull, Johnathan Edwards, Rob McCusker.
Replacements: Matthew Rees, Rhodri Jones, Peter Edwards, Vernon Cooper, Ben Morgan, Martin Roberts, Stephen Jones, Regan King.

The Blues have named a strong team. Czekaj moves to fullback after one of Blairs worst performances in a long time against Castres. Paterson and Pretorius come in at 5 and 6. The battle between two potential future Welsh players in Pretorius and Turnbull should be interesting. It's also a chance for us to see how Scott Andrews fares against a decent scrummages in Iestyn Thomas.

Scarlets have obviously taken a chance to rest a few key players here, with Stephen Jones and King sitting on the bench, while Lyons isn't in the 22 atall. Looking forward to see how McCusker goes at no.8. I believe it's a position Gatland thinks McCusker can fill in a couple of years time for Wales, so we'll see how explosive he can be from the back of a scrum/ruck. Maybe he'll give us another option there for Wales. Meanwhile Turnbull reverts back to his best position imo, blindside. Good that Ken Owens is getting a start at hooker, hopefully his throwing in at the end v Leicester was just a small blip! Nice to see Jon Davies back in the centre, pitty it isn't alongside King, as the two work so well together.

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

Lyons is injured. Considering that, bad choice to rest both Steveo and Rees- I don't think Lamont is captaincy material.

 

[cyRil]

No-one in that team really has the experience to be captain, apart from Iestyn Thomas I think; but he doesn't seem to be loud or influential enough to be captain. Guess it was a process of elimination!

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

Deacon Manu has captained Fiji...

 

[Draggs]

I think McCusker has captained the Scarlets once this season.
How about Lou Reed?

 

[TRF_Cymro]

If Iestyn Thomas Dull goes into this game taking Andrews lightly then Andrews will be all over him like a rash. Don't see what Andrews have to prove, he played well this season and had a decent game against Edinburgh and Castres in the HEC.

For me its all about young Rhodri Jones on the bench who looked very good when he played against Leicester last week.

 

[dullonien]

Not really saying Andrews has all that much to prove, he's made the Welsh squad which is proof he's coming along more than nicely. He hasn't had all that much chances to start matches for the Blues and more than that, I haven't had all that many opportunities to watch him play. Tight-head is a notoriously difficult position to get to grips with as I'm sure you know, especially for a youngster. Very few tightheads become truly good scrummergers untill their mid to late twenties (look at Adam Jones). If Andrews can manage it in his early twenties that would be awesome for Wales, and gives us a prop who can represent Wales for a decade in a position we've struggled for strength in depth in for a long time!

Didn't have much chance to see how Rhodri Jones went last week from low down in the stands. Good to know he went well when he came on. Where the hell has all these young promising props come from? Andrews, Bevingon, Jones. Hope it continues .

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

Not really saying Andrews has all that much to prove, he's made the Welsh squad which is proof he's coming along more than nicely. He hasn't had all that much chances to start matches for the Blues and more than that, I haven't had all that many opportunities to watch him play. Tight-head is a notoriously difficult position to get to grips with as I'm sure you know, especially for a youngster. Very few tightheads become truly good scrummergers untill their mid to late twenties (look at Adam Jones). If Andrews can manage it in his early twenties that would be awesome for Wales, and gives us a prop who can represent Wales for a decade in a position we've struggled for strength in depth in for a long time!

Didn't have much chance to see how Rhodri Jones went last week from low down in the stands. Good to know he went well when he came on. Where the hell has all these young promising props come from? Andrews, Bevingon, Jones. Hope it continues .

It's God's way of saying "Sorry" for Cai Griffish.

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

Jon Davies has pulled out due to "Fitness problems", this is not to do with the injury that has kept him out for the past few weeks.

 

[khaotix]

shame jon davies has been pulled out, although glad regan king is making a start.

 

[dullonien]

Very stop start game so far. Scarlets looking the better side, but are trailing 10-9 at the moment. Scott Andrews struggled in the scrum against Iestyn Thomas, and has been replaced on the 50min mark, so dissapointing tbh!

Priestland showing yet again that he's not consistent enough from the tee, missing a few very kickable penalties which should have put them into the lead before half time.

Blues still not looking all that great. Still missing Roberts big time in midfield imo, as they're having to rely too much on Laulala for both the creative stuff and the boshing. I think he'll make a big difference when he returns.

Scarlet's second row have impressed me again. Their new no. 8, Morgan, has impressed n patches too, although he lost the ball going over the line. Stoddard just gone off again, hamstring looks to have gone once more. I think they need to give him an extended lay off to make sure he get's it propperly fixed before rushign him back all the time.

 

[dullonien]

Well, Scarlets get the win. 10-16 final result. That's a great result for the Scarlets away from home. Blues were dire in the second half though, they were making mistakes every other minute. Gatland's decision not to include Czekaj in his squad looking a bit more informed now, a couple of big mistakes from him from fullback, especially for Priestland's try where he should have hung back ready for the tap back, especially as Gavin Evans was there to challenge for the ball. Dissapointed with both Pretorius and Warburton today, while Bradley Davies didn't get into the game as he usually does.

Priestland was very good throughout, apart from his up and down kicking from ground which I mentioned before. I do think he's building quite nicely and is a good option at fullback or at outside half if there's another kicker in the side. Iestyn Thomas also great today, scrummaged very well and he showed up alot around the field to carry ball etc. Overall the Scarlets set piece was excellent. Some great off the top lineout ball throughout, wheras the Blues struggled to get any lineout ball secured!

 

[khaotix]

Worst performance i have seen from the blues for a while to be honest. Scarlets dominated them in the set pieces. The Blues looked decent up until the Richie Rees yellow card, they went to pieces in the 2nd half. Well deserved man of the match for Priestland. Quite shocked at how bad the blues were, especially in the scrum. Not the best of games but a well deserved win for the Scarlets! And whats all this fuss about Czekaj? Please dont let him anywhere near the welsh team!

 

[Bluemoon]

To be fair to you Dullonien, 99.9% of the posts you make are spot on.

Blues lineout was appalling tonight - desperately missing Gareth Williams. I agree back row were poor tonight, but Bradely did make a lot of carries. Its difficult when your on the back foot to make ground even if you are a big lad like Bradley. Thought Pretorius looked more like a second row who got to the breakdown far to late for a back rower.

Fair play to the Scarlets took the few chances in the game and beat a poor blues. All around a poor game really and this needs to be a bit of a wake up to the Blues to make them aware that you don't just win games on reputation alone. Fitness also seems to be an issue there at the moment.

Well done Scarlets!

 

[cyRil]

I can't believe I spent 20 quid on that ****!

 

[dullonien]

Certainly not blaming Bradley Davies in the slightest Bluemoon. As you said it was difficult for him when everyone around him were making mistakes and coughing up ball. The one downside to his game is that he's not a great lineout jumper, and that needs to be looked at for Wales. He needs to be paired with another second row that stands out in the lineout, someone like Cherteris if he could translate regional performances to international ones. Is Alun-Wyn that man, not to sure, I don't think our balance is quite right with those two even though they are certainly the two stand-out isolated performers. Ian Evans could certainly fit in there nicely alongside wither of the two mentioned above, and I feel we do need someone like him.

Warberton was annoying to watch tonight. As most know, I rate the guy hugely, have dome since seeing him perform for the U20's at no.8. He gave away at least two silly penalties tonight though, either of which were needed, and only added pressure on the Blues. On the other hand, he was one of only two players seemingly competing at the breakdown, along with Gethin Jenkins. As I said very dissapointed with Pretorius after expecting so much.

Alot of work for the Blues to do in time for the second round of HC matches!

 

[profitius]

Do the Blues take the ML seriously? Watching them against Connacht they didn't look too interested either.

 

[Bluemoon]

Blues are taking the magners league very seriously. They have made it very public that they'd like to be top
4 this year at least. Still a good chance of that I think.

Northampton won't be worried at the moment though and this poor form needs sorting out.